Katie & Joel's Wedding

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Hilton Head for Katie and Joel's wedding.

We arrived Thursday evening around 5.  We should have gotten there around noon, but our original flight was cancelled.  A huge pain, but we realized it could have been much worse!  As soon as we opened the door out onto the balcony of our condo and saw the view, we pretty much forgot about all our travel troubles.

That evening, everyone met at the Salty Dog Cafe.  There was a guy playing guitar.  I had DELICIOUS crab soup and enjoyed catching up with lots of friends that were also in Hilton Head for the wedding.

Friday morning we had breakfast at a cute little cafe and we loved it so much we ate there every morning during our trip.  We usually ran into at least five other people that were also down for KT's wedding.  After that we rented bikes and began to explore.

We loved eating out for almost all our meals.  We could finish our sentences.

We stayed in Sea Pines Plantation and the entire area is covered in paved bike trails.  Unfortunately, our bikes were pretty old and on our way to the beach, Mike's chain came off and he flew off his bike and completely bit it.  Normally, I would have died laughing, but it was a hard fall and I was actually afraid he hit his head or broke something.  He ended up being OK.  He had a badly bruised foot (which we think could possibly be from a small break, but we're not sure), scraped up back and elbow, and he reinjured his bad shoulder again, but the worst part of the fall... he got mud and grass stains all over his Flyin' Hawaiian Phillies t-shirt that he was wearing in preparation for the BIG game that night.  Maybe that was a bad omen?  Thank goodness he was able to fix the chain because we were very far from our place and it would have been a looooong walk back.

It's hard to see in this picture, but there are two alligators sun bathing on the bank.

We visited friends at the beach for a bit.

The beach is amazing.  The sand is as fine as powder and the beach is very long.  The sand is so compacted by the water that you can actually ride your bikes on the beach.  I really wanted to do that, but it was so windy that we didn't stay too long.

Friday evening we had our rehearsal for the wedding.  Katie was married under the Liberty Oak in Harbortown.

Katie and her family have been going to Hilton Head for vacation ever since she was a little girl.  There is a little stage under the oak tree that Katie would dance on as a little girl.  It's such a meaningful place for her, not to mention beautiful!

After the rehearsal, the Long's had a welcome party for all the guests at the Yacht Club.  We were on the top floor which had a huge balcony overlooking the harbor.

Sara & Wes... a super fun couple!!!

Loved spending time with Marybeth and Aziz.  Wish I would have had more time to hold their babies :)

 The sunset was incredible.  Tori, Katie's sister, gave a wonderful speech which had everyone in tears.

After the welcome party we went back to the Long's house for a BBQ.  The house they were staying at was incredible.  Just picture the largest, most beautiful house in a Pottery Barn catalog and that's what it looked like.  We had yummy Southern comfort food and watched part of the Phillies game.  I was having a really hard time staying awake, so I was glad we left and went back to our place to watch the rest of it (well, I slept, while Mike watched the grueling game).

Saturday morning we had breakfast at our same spot, rode bikes for a little while, but didn't go too far, thank goodness, because Mike's bike chain came off again.  Thankfully, he didn't crash again like he did the previous day.  Friends of ours rented bikes and they weren't far when Sara stopped because she ripped her toe nail on a metal part of the bike (we think that's how it happened).  There was blood all over the sidewalk.  Mike ended up having to take Sara (and Julie) to a medical clinic while I got ready for the wedding.  They had to completely take off her nail!  Yuck!  Needless to say, they ended up not renting bikes.

At noon, I headed over to the Long's house for some major pre-wedding pampering.  A sweet lady washed, dried, and styled my hair.  Then, another lady that works for Channel did my make-up.  Ahhhhh...... it was heavenly.  We had a great time getting ready, drinking champagne, and looking forward to Katie and Joel's wedding.

Katie looked beautiful.  Her dress was so classic and elegant.  It was completely Katie.  In fact, everything about her wedding was classic.  No frills, nothing cheesy or over the top.  Just simple and elegant... just like Katie.

We had pictures taken at the house before heading over to the harbor for the ceremony.  Everyone agreed that the ceremony was one of the best we've heard.  The pastor was really good and so invested in Katie and Joel.  The best part was at the end of the ceremony, after the pastor announced them as husband and wife and they were getting ready to walk back down the aisle, all the boats and yachts in the harbor honked their horns.  I think everyone had goosebumps.  Definitely a sweet memory.

The best part of our trip was probably the wedding reception.  It was at the Plantation Club.  The venue was beautiful, but also very simple.

They had an 8 or 9 person band with three singers.  They were amazing!  Everyone was up dancing the entire night.

all graduates of Susquehanna University

I think he was doing the pregnant belly pose... definitely not pregnant!

Thankfully, our flight home was fine.  We flew direct from Savannah to Philadelphia.  We ran into about an hour of traffic on the way home and I was going crazy because all I wanted to do was see my boys.  I missed them so much! Probably much more than they missed me.

We were so grateful that Aunt Beth and Eric were able to stay with our boys.  They took such good care of Owen and Adam and I knew they were in great hands while we were away.  My parents helped out a lot too which was very nice.  I can't wait until I can repay them and help watch my nieces and/or nephews one day :)

I took the day off today.  I really needed to just be at home with my boys.  We took a trip to the park and playground, but spent the rest of the day playing at home.  I think I've been overloading them with kisses.